Declining sales Apple shifted 154,000 units in the quarter - down 31.6 per cent compared to the same period a year ago. Other companies to suffer negative growth include: Toshiba, which was down 23.8 per cent; NEC, down 12.2 per cent; and Fujitsu Siemens, down 10.4 per cent.

The downturn in unit sales was acknowledged in Apple's third-quarter results, which were announced in July. The company shrugged this off, saying it was inevitable in today's declining PC market.

IDC's figures show the IT industry is still in recession. The second quarter of 2001 saw some 29.7 million PCs shipped worldwide, down 2 per cent for the same quarter last year.